Railway ignored since independence

Speakers at a seminar yesterday said railway can be developed as the cheapest and most convenient mass transit system in the country that remained largely ignored since independence compared to the development of road network.
The seminar was jointly organised by Paribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) and Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust (WBB) at Poba office.
The speakers said railway can carry a huge volume of passengers and goods with less fuel consumption and a goods train is equal to 210 trucks. The number shows that journey by train is also comparatively safer in nature, they added.
They said railway has to close many of its stations due to shortage of manpower and has been suffering from shortage of coaches and engines when its tracks are in dilapidated condition.
Apart from negligence, they blamed donor-prescribed policies for the current state of railway. Opposing the idea of turning the railway into a corporate entity, they demanded a separate ministry for the railway.
Poba Chairman Abu Naser Khan and Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Manjurul Ahsan Khan spoke, among others, at the seminar.